CREATIVITY
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Bruges
is a fairy tale gem of gabled roofs, swan filled canals, fantastic Flemish
art, and some of the best chocolate in the world. And
if you long for the sea--you are only 15 minutes by train away from the
wide, sandy beaches of Ostend. Bruges is one of the most perfectly preserved
medieval cities--a place filled with mystery and enchantment. You can
wander for hours by foot or on bike by the many canals that weave through
Bruges or spend the afternoon in one of the many cafes that line the water's
edge. There are wonderful art museums and lush parks in this inspiring
and relaxing Venice of the North. Your time in Bruges will take you back
600 years into the heart of Europe in the Middle Ages. Bruges has a great
location for visiting all of western Europe. Brussels, the capital of
Belgium is only an hour away, Paris and many other major European cities
are within a few hours reach. The workshop will take place in the center
of the Old Town of Bruges, with its clock towers and carillon bells, its
cobbled streets and gilded architecture.
Each day the Creativity Workshop in Bruges will meet for 3 1/2 hours. We will explore ways to expand our creativity through a series of exercises including guided visualization technique, automatic drawing and writing, map making, memoir, and storytelling. Throughout the workshop, the exercises and talks by the instructors will focus on ways to:
Stimulate your perceptive abilities
Find inspiration in the world around you
Discover and use images from the unconscious
Get over creative blocks and the fear of failure
Engage your curiosity
Recognize and use your creative instincts
Give yourself the time, permission, and nourishment to do creative work
Develop a daily practice to accomplish these goals
Work collaboratively
Use your memories to engage the imagination
(Order and kinds of exercises and instructors' talks may vary. Some exercises are done individually while others are collaborative.)
Day
by Day in Bruges
Arrival: Free
day
Time
for you to settle in and relax.
First day of workshop:
Introduction
to the hows and whys of the 
Creativity
Workshop. Workshop. Exercises in relaxation technique and guided visualization.
Visualization: writing and drawing using the myth of the hero’s
journey as our framework. Automatic Drawing exercise: Finding our hidden
imagery. Exercise in ‘show and tell’ as a means of honing
our natural storytelling styles and retrieving childhood memories to
spark ideas. Instructor talks about famous writers, scientists, artists
and their sources of inspiration, and how we can use some of those same
sources.
Second
day of workshop:
Relaxation exercise followed by a visualization using map making. Map making
as a way to find, chart, and tell fictional stories and true life experiences.
Exercise in Automatic Writing. How automatic writing allows you to brainstorm
and create in new and surprising ways. How we can use automatic writing to get
over creative blocks and discover new ways of developing and editing work, while
avoiding self-censorship. Why alternating between writing and drawing aids us
in developing creative flexibility. The Interview: Listening and experiencing
a life outside our own. How listening is as important as doing in creative work.
Third
day of workshop:
Today's visualization
exercise uses letter writing as a way to explore voice in writing. Miniature
Theatre: an exercise in storytelling with found objects. Automatic Writing
continues with Writing in Groups. How writing and/or drawing with others
can stimulate our imaginations and expand our points of view. Topics
of instructors' talks may include: the importance of play and the need
to value the creative process over product. Enforced Cafe-Sitting: the
art of relaxed observation. How to carve out time for creativity in a
busy schedule. How to do on-going creative work in a short modules of
time? How we can use luck and coincidence to jump start creative projects.
Creative freedom requires discipline: Developing daily practice.
Fourth
day of workshop:
Today's visualization is The Myth of the Other: imagining ourselves living a
parallel life. The imagination's magic phrase: What If. Autobiographical exercise:
'Trips to the Past:' Using a foreign environment to spark and sharpen memories
of home.
Exercise exploring how to focus on the details of your environment using photography,
writing and drawing. Importance of detail in making creative work come alive.
Finding inspiration in the world around us. Topics of instructors talks may include:
honoring our innate creativity and how to rekindle fearless imagination.
Fifth
day of workshop:
Visualization exercise using maps and legends to tell our stories. Automatic
drawing and writing exercises continue. How to be our own trickster and transform
ourselves and our creative ventures. Exercise using postcards. Cafe exercise:
Writing, drawing or photography to search for characters. Exercise in stimulating
our perceptive abiliti
es and discover and use images from the unconscious. Instructor
talk: How to get over creative blocks and the fear of failure. Making our home
and work environments inspiring for the imagination.
NOTE: There
are no classes on the final 2 days of the workshop. These days are
free for participants to put to active use the various techniques learned
in the workshop and to explore the cultural, historical and natural
riches of each location and its people. It is suggested you make your
sightseeing plans during your stay and not before you come to allow
for flexibility in your itinerary. Most excursions are available with
very little time in advance.
Excursions are not included.
FREE
DAY: Suggested
visit: Brussels.
FREE DAY: Suggested
visit: Village
of Damme.
Contact us
1 (831) 915-5209
Creativity
Workshop
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Contact us
1 (831) 915-5209